JV EQUITY & STRUCTURED CAPITAL COVERAGE OF SPECIALIZED EXPERTISE
In March 2019, Berkadia acquired Central Park Capital Partners and launched its JV Equity & Structured Capital practice, led by Chinmay Bhatt, Noam Franklin,and Cody Kirkpatrick
Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital specializes in arranging joint venture equity and structured capital, from international and domestic institutional capital sources. Since joining Berkadia in 2019, the team has capitalized 125+ property transactions in 24 states and counting. From inception, the team has raised equity for more than 24,000 multifamily/ build-to-rent units and student housing beds. From inception, the team has raised equity for more than 23,000 multifamily/built-for-rent units and student housing beds.
The following pages feature thought leadership from Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital across numerous trade publications, highlights from recent transactions, awards, and recognitions received.
INCREASING POPULARITY OF EQUITY SOURCING
Multifamily Developers Are Seeking More Equity Partners
Southeast Real Estate Business, July 2024
In response to elevated interest rates, multifamily developers and investors are increasingly seeking equity partners, including overseas sources, to complete their capital stacks. Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital, notes a surge in inquiries from multifamily owner-operators and developers looking for new capital partners. The team, which focuses on market-rate multifamily, build-to-rent, and student housing, connects sponsors with joint venture and preferred equity from both domestic and international sources.
All Eyes on Equity: High Interest Rates Have Created Sweeping Demand for Equity
Globe St., July 15, 2024
In the past two years, volatility in the capital markets has posed significant challenges for commercial real estate owners and developers. With rising interest rates, many sponsors are turning to equity partners to complete their capital stacks, though these partners are becoming increasingly selective and pricing on equity deals has risen.
In this episode of the GlobeSt. Thought Leadership series, Berkadia’s Chinmay Bhatt, Senior Managing Director of Joint Venture Equity and Preferred Equity, delves into the current market landscape.
Berkadia’s Noam Franklin On The Appetite for U.S. Real Estate Investment Opportunities
Institutional Real Estate, Inc., May 2024
Chase McWhorter, managing director, Americas at Institutional Real Estate, Inc., sits down with Noam Franklin, managing director, JV equity and structured capital group at Berkadia, to discuss the current appetite for U.S. real estate investment opportunities, key themes from speaking with U.S.-based institutional investors on their current appetite for the living sector, if there is an increased amount of deal flow that would be considered “distressed” and more.
INCREASING POPULARITY OF EQUITY SOURCING
Lenders Point To Wrinkle In Capital Stack: Participating Preferred Equity
Real Estate Capital USA, March 13, 2023
In other words, participating preferred equity allows holders to receive returns beyond their minimum required return, a benefit similar to joint venture equity’s uncapped profit potential, Kirkpatrick added.
“Groups that traditionally have been offering JV equity, [at] where the market is today, they’re just more comfortable in a preferred equity position,” said Noam Franklin, managing director at Berkadia JV equity and structured capital.
Kirkpatrick believes the broader interest in preferred equity stems from today’s unusual market conditions, noting the firm had long worked with sponsors who did not consider preferred equity as an option.
Investors Eyeing Real Estate Shift Focus to Preferred Equity Vehicles
WMRE, November 21, 2022
Kirkpatrick advises borrowers to shop the market to find the best options. On some of the processes that Berkadia has run for apartment deals, pricing across the board from very sophisticated investors varies, not only on the proceeds side, but on the pricing side, by several hundred basis points. The market is not as efficient as it was six to nine months ago. “So, for our clients, we’re advocating that you run a process because the days of making two to three calls and getting a couple of options around the same pricing and leverage points are gone,” he says.
Is Dry Powder in the CRE Space Ready to Move Off the Sidelines?
WMRE, August 21, 2022
Although not all investors have hit the brakes, buyers are moving more cautiously. “There is plenty of capital out there, but it is more selective,” says Chinmay Bhatt, a senior managing director and founding member of Berkadia’s JV Equity & Structured Capital group.
The bar to get a deal through an investment community today is higher, notes Bhatt. “However, there is still great real estate out there to buy and very relevant projects that should be built, and it’s a function of finding the right strategy on the debt side, as well as the right group on the equity side to piece together the puzzle to make it happen,” he says.
INCREASING POPULARITY OF EQUITY SOURCING
Multifamily Dealmakers Aren’t Hitting Their Whisper Prices Anymore and Institutional Equity Is Moving In
Globe St., June 15, 2022
Franklin represents institutional equity in the housing market and for the last year many of the multifamily deals he has sent over have been too rich for institutional capital seeking out value-add JV investments. Once they unwind the rents and pencil in the money on upgrades, they would find that the return was not equal to the risk they would have to take. So, these life companies, private equity providers and pension funds, for the most part, stayed on the sidelines instead of investing through JVs.
Instead, what they did was take a barbell approach, Franklin explains, blending some ground up deals, some core plus and so on to reach a value-add return. The multifamily market hardly noticed the difference given the abundance of private and GSE capital that has been targeting the space in recent years.
Berkadia’s Chinmay Bhatt Talks Equity Sourcing
Commercial Observer, January 25, 2022
Noam Franklin and Cody Kirkpatrick, the team sourced institutional equity partners for 49 commercial real estate transactions across the country last year, including market-rate multifamily acquisitions, ground-up multifamily projects, single-family-rental/build-to-rent communities (SFR/BTR), hotel-to multifamily conversions, student housing assets and property recapitalizations.
Since the team’s previous platform — Central Park Capital Partners — was acquired by Berkadia in 2019, the team has capitalized more than $3 billion in property transactions, consisting of 12,927 apartments, 1,280 student housing beds and 1,754 SFR/BTR units across 18 different states.
In the second half of 2021, they also secured a platform-level joint venture partner for SB Real Estate Partners to acquire more than $250 million of multifamily assets located in Arizona, California and Nevada.
Berkadia’s Cody Kirkpatrick on Engineering Equity Transactions Amid COVID-19
Commercial Observer, January 13, 2021
In the first 12 months after the CPCP and Berkadia merger, the group closed on more than $1.2 billion worth of capitalizations. COVID-19 set in right at their one-year mark — quite a time to celebrate an anniversary — but their activity and interest from their clients abroad didn’t slow.
Capital from the region that makes up the Gulf Cooperation Council, a union representing Arab states of the Persian Gulf, “is starting to explore the multifamily space more,” Bhatt said. “Many groups are still getting their heads wrapped around the asset class, because purpose-built rental products are fairly unheard of in that part of the world.”
MULTIFAMILY HOUSING FUNDAMENTALS AND MARKET TRENDS
Is Multifamily Investment Finally Thawing?
Multi-Housing News, May 29, 2024
“We are in dialogue constantly with providers of equity and structured capital, domestic and abroad, within the housing sector, and see them leaning in a lot more now than they did in the second half of 2023,” observed Noam Franklin, managing director & head of the Eastern U.S. for Berkadia’s joint venture equity & structured capital team.
It’s also giving them an opportunity to forge new relationships with best-in-class property owners that previously limited themselves to repeat business with the same partners, he noted.
How Gen Z Renters Might Reshape Multifamily
Globe St., May 18, 2022
Gen Z renters are also fueling growth in the build-to-rent space: according to Noam Franklin, a member of Berkadia’s JV Equity & Structured Capital team, 43% Gen Z respondents prefer single-family living to apartment living.
“According to survey data from the National Apartment Association, 43% of Generation Z wants to rent single-family homes following the completion of their university education. With the current age range of Generation Z spanning six to 24 years old, the first wave of this cohort is just now starting to make an impact on rental housing demand,” Franklin told GlobeSt.com.
MULTIFAMILY HOUSING FUNDAMENTALS AND MARKET TRENDS
2022 Apartment Outlook: As Good As It Gets
Multifamily Executive, January 4, 2022
“There is an overabundance of money chasing multifamily and still an undersupply of housing in this country,” says Noam Franklin, the managing director for Berkadia’s JV Equity & Structured Capital Group in New York City. “In addition to traditional institutional investors, there are groups raising capital in-house, there is a ton of private equity, there’s 1031 exchange, and there’s high-net-worth money pulling out of the stock market and pouring into apartments. It is a constant bombardment of capital.”
“Single-family build-to-rent is at the top of the list for almost every equity source we’re working with,” says Franklin. “It’s the first deal they are looking for, and we’re trying hard to connect those investors with deal flow.”
Capital Is Pivoting from Multifamily Into the BTR Space
Globe St., October 1, 2021
Build-to-rent communities are quickly becoming the most sought-after new asset class. According to Noam Franklin, a founder of Berkadia’s JV Equity & Structured Capital group, investment capital is pivoting from multifamily to build-to-rent investments in response to surging demand.
“The surge of interest in BTR is the result of a convergence of demand drivers. COVID-19, of course, had a profound impact in terms of fostering people’s desire for more space and creating the possibility of being able to work from anywhere,” says Franklin, adding that the residential rental sector has myriad benefits. “Other factors include the fact that BTR product appeals to families who want a single-family home type experience with on-site amenities; pet parents who want private outdoor space for their pets; and empty nesters seeking the conveniences of greater mobility and no down payment,” he says.
FEATURED CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES
Pivotal & Novu Land Financing For DFW Multifamily Despite The Development Drought
The Real Deal, September 6, 2024
Chinmay Bhatt, Noam Franklin and Cody Kirkpatrick of Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital sourced the equity on behalf of the developers Pivotal Residential and Novu Residential Group to build Casona, featuring seven four-story buildings in the DFW suburb of Grand Prairie. The project is expected to break ground this month and be completed by Spring 2027. This development signals a potential end to the dry spell of multifamily starts in the DFW area.
“The capital markets remain inefficient as a whole,” Kirkpatrick said. “But for well-located multifamily development opportunities alongside experienced development teams, there are still accretive, cost-effective equity partners deploying capital today.”
Dealmaker: Berkadia Secures $12M in JV Equity in Nevada
Mortgage Bankers Association Newslink, April 17, 2024
Cody Kirkpatrick, Chinmay Bhatt, and Noam Franklin of Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital and Jared Glover, Senior Director of Investment Sales at Berkadia Nevada represented sponsor, Leggera Development, Las Vegas, to arrange the joint venture equity.
“The bar is high for investment into ground-up development for institutional equity in today’s macroeconomic environment,” Kirkpatrick said. “However, for well-located opportunities alongside proven development teams that deliver high-quality product, institutional interest remains.”
Berkadia Secures $81.23M JV Equity for Trammell Crow Residential’s Multifamily Development in Denver
IREI, April 1, 2024
Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital represented the sponsor, Trammell Crow Residential (TCR), to arrange the joint venture equity partnership. The team arranged the equity through MBK Rental Living, a privately held real estate investment and development firm. MBK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., a global Fortune 500 company.
“In today’s challenging market, it is imperative for our team, Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital, to be in regular contact with both domestic and international equity sources to bring such a large development opportunity to fruition,” said Cody Kirkpatrick, managing director and a founding member at Berkadia’s JV Equity & Structured Capital. “Working with a developer of TCR’s reputation and deep market experience was paramount to finding such a quality partner for this project in MBK Rental Living.”
FEATURED CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES
Bela Flor Lands $24M Equity for Phoenix-Area Luxury Asset
Multi-Housing News, April 10, 2023
The property is also subject to $36.1 million in debt financing.
Bela Flor Communities has secured $24 million in preferred equity for the recapitalization of Bella Victoria, a 236-unit luxury community in Mesa, Ariz. Berkadia arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower.
Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital team of Managing Directors Cody Kirkpatrick and Noam Franklin, along with Senior Managing Director Chinmay Bhatt, arranged the financing. The same trio was recently involved in securing equity for three Sun Belt communities totaling 875 units.
Berkadia Secures Programmatic equity For Sterling Group Apartment Communities Recapitalization
NYREJ, January 31, 2023
Berkadia has secured programmatic equity from a global institutional investor to finance Indiana-based The Sterling Group’s recapitalization of three apartment communities located in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
GW Real Estate Partners JV to develop class A Apartments in Williamsburg, Va.
IREI, October 19, 2022
Berkadia has sourced a joint venture equity partner for GW Real Estate Partners (GWREP), a vertically integrated multifamily development and construction firm, to build a new Class A apartment community in Williamsburg, Virginia.
SB Real Estate JV Pays $56M for Phoenix Asset
Multi-Housing News, September 9, 2023
The acquisition consolidates the partnership’s Southwest multifamily expansion.
SB Real Estate Partners has acquired Obsidian on Ocotillo, a 232-unit multifamily property in Glendale, Ariz., for $56.4 million. The firm’s equity partner, a Texas-based family office sourced by Berkadia, provided $23 million for this purchase.
Berkadia Senior Managing Director Chinmay Bhatt, together with Managing Directors Noam Franklin and Cody Kirkpatrick, provided the Texas-based equity partner as part of a larger programmatic relationship that launched in September 2021. The partner has provided SB Real Estate with more than $100 million in the last 12 months, contributing to the company’s $350 million Southwest multifamily expansion.
FEATURED CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES
Berkadia Assists Phoenix Developer on Two New Projects
Connect CRE, September 1, 2022
Berkadia sourced both a joint venture partner and a preferred equity provider for developer Moderne to build two new Phoenix multifamily communities. Moderne has plans to build projects with a combined 358 units to be called The Governor and Moderne Arrowhead.
Built to Rent Community to Break Ground in Tampa Palms
Tampa Bay Business Journal, August 12, 2022
A Birmingham, Alabama developer is moving forward with plans for a built-to-rent cottage and townhouse community in Tampa
Cody Kirkpatrick, Noam Franklin and Chinmay Bhatt of Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital sourced the project’s equity partner, a fund manager based in Texas.
“These newest communities are evidence of the value of long-term programmatic partnerships between experienced developers and an institutional equity partner,” Kirkpatrick said in a statement. “Among a variety of capital providers, we were able to identify an equity partner whose values and goals aligned with Capstone’s, allowing them to execute on these transactions with and confidence in an otherwise volatile market.”
Berkadia Secures $16.4M in Equity for Apartment Project in Orlando’s Lake Nona District
REBusiness Online, August 8, 2022
ORLANDO, FL — Berkadia has secured $16.4 million in equity financing for the construction of Encore Narcoossee, a new 249unit apartment community underway at 7567 Narcoossee Road in Orlando’s Lake Nona master-planned community.
This is the third equity placement that Berkadia has structured for Encore Multifamily in the past two years.
FEATURED CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES
Berkadia Secures $16.39 million in Equity For Encore Enterprises To Develop
Orlando Apartments
Yield Pro, July 21, 2022
Berkadia announces it has sourced a capital partner for Dallas-based Encore Multifamily, a division of Encore Enterprises, to develop its second apartment community in Orlando. This is Berkadia’s third successful equity placement for Encore Multifamily; in 2021, the team sourced a capital partner for the company to develop Encore Chandler, a 208-unit, Class A multifamily development in Phoenix, and Encore Lower Broadway, a 386-unit apartment community in San Antonio’s Pearl District.
“It was great to once again assist the Encore Multi-Family team in sourcing an equity partner for the development of this welllocated apartment asset,” said Kirkpatrick. “This project will provide much-needed high-quality housing in a flourishing market with a multitude of demand drivers.”
“The capital partner Berkadia sourced was able to navigate the current market volatility and close with us on the terms originally agreed upon,” said Charlie Keels, President of Encore Multi-Family, LLC. “We look forward to partnering on many more opportunities and continuing to grow our relationship with Berkadia.”
Lewisville Project Will Include Apartments and Restaurants
Dallas Morning News, March 8, 2022
Developers have secured funding for a new retail and apartment project in Lewisville. California-based builder Legacy Partners is constructing the 296-unit Merit mixed-use project on Interstate 35E.
“In today’s challenging cost environment, the capital partner and our client worked collaboratively to get the deal closed,” said Bhatt. “It’s this type of collaborative approach that will help these two groups execute more projects together in the future.”
Berkadia Arranges $84M Senior Debt for Hotel-to-Apartment Conversion
Connect CRE, January 11, 2022
Berkadia secured $84 million in stretch senior financing for developer Emmut Properties’ acquisition of Excelsior Hotel, a century-old landmark hotel at 45 W. 81st St. on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Chinmay Bhatt, Noam Franklin and Cody Kirkpatrick of Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital secured an $84-million loan from Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. The financing package consists of a $74-million senior bridge loan and a $10-million mezzanine loan, both with 18-month terms and three single-year extension options.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
CRE’s Aspiring Leaders 2024
GlobeSt.com
Recognition: Cody Kirkpatrick, Senior Managing Director
Berkadia managing director Cody Kirkpatrick co-founded the firm’s joint-venture equity and structured capital group and co-leads a team devoted exclusively to raising equity and structured capital from international and domestic qualified capital sources. Kirkpatrick has helped contribute to the capitalization of more than $6 billion across more than 100 property transactions, which comprises more than 22,000 multifamily, build-for-rent units and student housing beds across 22 states.
Notable In Real Estate
Crain’s New York Business
Winners: Chinmay Bhatt, Senior Managing Director – JV Equity and Structured Capital
Having lived and worked in the United States, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates, France and Singapore, Chinmay Bhatt brings a global background to his role as a real estate capital markets professional. Bhatt, a founding member of Berkadia, originates and executes equity and structured capital raises for real estate owners, operators and developers. His team has capitalized more than 30 deals in the past 18 months for a total transaction volume of $1.2 billion. He brought a Dubai-based family office as an equity partner for a 750-unit multifamily development in Austin, Texas; arranged a $50 million capital partner for a New York developer; and structured an equity relationship for a $186 million multifamily portfolio, composed of eight properties in Florida and Georgia.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
Berkadia’s JV Equity & Structured Capital Team Marks Record-Breaking
Connect CRE
Recognition: JV Equity and Structured Capital
Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital marked a record-breaking year in 2021, having capitalized more than $2 billion in property transactions. The team, led by Chinmay Bhatt, Noam Franklin and Cody Kirkpatrick, sourced institutional equity partners for 49 commercial real estate transactions across the country, including market rate multifamily acquisitions, groundup multifamily projects, single-family-rental/build-to-rent communities, hotel-to-multifamily conversions, student housing assets and property recapitalizations.
Since being acquired by Berkadia in 2019, the team has capitalized more than $3 billion in property transactions across 18 different states.
Debt, Equity and Finance Rainmakers in CRE – Globe St. GlobeSt.com
Recognition: JV Equity and Structured Capital
Focusing exclusively on the equity side of the capital stack, the JV equity & structured capital team at Berkadia works hand-inhand with the firm’s debt originators and investment sales teams to create enhanced joint-venture matchmaking opportunities. With this niche focus, the team has played a key role in driving the expansion of many emerging and established local and regional sponsors operating in the multi-family space, including market-rate acquisitions, ground-up projects, SFR/BTR, hotelto-multifamily conversions, student housing assets and property recapitalizations. Drawing on relationships with a wide variety of domestic and foreign capital sources, including high-net-worth investors, private equity, pension funds, insurance companies and family offices, the team works with clients to structure JV equity, senior equity, preferred equity/mezzanine debt, ground leases, stretch senior A/B notes and co-GP/entity-level partnerships. Led by senior managing director Chinmay Bhatt and managing directors Noam Franklin and Cody Kirkpatrick, the nine-person team holds a deep understanding of the drivers and key players in dynamic real estate markets. Since launching in 2019, the team has capitalized more than $4.3 billion across more than 100 property transactions, comprising more than 20,000 multifamily, build-for-rent units and student housing beds across 21 states. The team has achieved its most productive years in the past two years; doubling transaction volume each year.